The Gold Hunters' Adventures Part 49

The clearing was sufficiently large to enable the light to penetrate the open s.p.a.ce, and with no other guide, we commenced striking our shovels and picks into the earth, in hopes of reaching the right spot.

I still clung to the idea that the money was buried under the ashes of the burned bushrangers, and with this impression, carefully sc.r.a.ped them aside, and felt with the point of my shovel, until I touched earth which I considered had been disturbed.

I said nothing to my companions, but worked diligently for a few minutes, until I became convinced that the ground had been moved at no distant day.

Wis.h.i.+ng to be convinced that I was on a track which corresponded with the last words of Gulpin, I set the compa.s.s, and by the light of a match, noted its bearing.

The place where I had been at work bore in a south-west direction, and on pacing off the distance where the hut stood, I found it to be exactly ten paces.

"Hurrah, boys!" I shouted, commencing work with renewed energy, "I think that I have discovered the spot!"

My comrades hurried to my side, and all of us concentrated our energies upon that particular spot, and none worked harder than the aged convict, who appeared, since his recovery from the effects of too intense an application to my flask, to be desirous of making amends for his weakness.

"You are not vorking in the right place!" shouted Steel Spring, from his excavation, stopping his labors to watch our movements; "you will find nothing there, I gives you varning. Come and ha.s.sist me, and we shall find all the gold!"

"Cease your cries," said Smith, sternly; "do you wish to bring a band of bushrangers upon us in this lonely spot, where they can murder us without opposition?"

"There's no fear of 'um," retorted the fellow, raising his voice to an unnecessary pitch; "but listen to my varning--you'll find not a bit of gold there."

We paid no attention to his words, but worked with energy, and while Smith examined with his hands every shovelful of dirt that was thrown out, so that we should not miss any thing, Fred and myself dug along the edges of the ground, carefully, yet rapidly.

Still Steel Spring persisted in calling to us that we were wasting time, and that we should find nothing; and just as he echoed his words for the third or fourth time, my shovel struck upon some tough substance.

Breathless with hope, I stooped and felt of it with my hands, and to my joy I discovered a small canvas bag, which appeared to be stuffed with a heavy substance, for I found some trouble in lifting it.

"I have found it!" I cried, so excited that I could hardly stand; "here--feel of it, lift it, and see if its contents are not gold!"

I was about handing the bag to Fred, when a wild, shrill scream, apparently proceeding from our very midst, was heard, startling us by its unnatural character.

Fred dropped the bag, and sprang for his rifle, which was lying near him, ready for use, while Smith and the stockman appeared paralyzed with terror.

"For G.o.d's sake what noise was that?" asked the stockman.

Before we could reply, we heard an answering yell, which appeared to be distant about a quarter of a mile, while near at hand, the rustling of the bushes showed that either an enemy or a wild beast was regarding our movements.

"Who goes there?" cried Fred, bringing his rifle to his shoulder.

There was no reply, but I thought I detected a chuckling laugh which sounded familiar. Before I could interpose, Fred had fired at the moving bushes, and for a brief second the clearing was lighted up with the flash of his rifle. I glanced towards the hole in which Steel Spring had been at work; it was empty; that notorious liar and singular genius had made himself scarce.

Hardly had the echo of the rifle died away, before another yell, more searching and protracted than the first, again started our party, for it seemed to proceed from a tree not more than a rod distant; even the hound appeared disconcerted at the noise, and seemed undecided whether to attack or wait for more decided manifestations.

"G.o.d be with us," cried the stockman, suddenly grasping his long-barrelled gun; "let us make the best of our way from the forest, or by morning we shall not be alive."

"Of what are you afraid?" demanded Fred. "A wolf cannot harm you, and at the worst, a wildcat or two are no match for us well-armed men."

"There are no wolves on the island, and wildcats are unknown," replied the stockman, calmly.

"Then name the animals which produced those screams," cried Fred.

"I wish that they were animals," rejoined the stockman, "for then there would be hope for us miserable sinners. The screams which we have heard are produced by men bent upon destruction."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that we have been duped by Steel Spring to reveal the burial place of the treasure, and that now, in answer to his signal, a band of murderers are already enclosing us in their meshes, and in a few minutes, unless we act with promptness and prudence, we shall be in their power."

"We will sell our lives dearly, at all events," muttered Fred, "and sooner than their blood-stained hands shall grasp this gold, we will lose it forever."

Again we heard a chuckling laugh amid the bushes, and angry at the imposition of the long-legged scamp, I raised my rifle, and guided by the noise, let drive its contents. A yell of agony, such as is often uttered by a wounded man, met our ears, and I rejoiced to think that I had punished his treachery.

"G.o.d be merciful to him a sinner," exclaimed the pious old stockman.

"You have punished him for his tricks," said Fred; but almost before he had finished the sentence, a scream of sardonic laughter, in a different direction, proved that he was uninjured.

Again did we hear shrill, prolonged yells from several parts of the forest, and from their distinctness we knew that the bands of bushrangers, or whoever were the utterers, were gradually closing in upon us, and to stay where we were for half an hour was certain destruction.

The light was not sufficient to see each other's faces, but I had but little doubt, from the manner in which my friends grasped their weapons and examined their contents, that they were determined to sell their lives as dearly as possible.

"I am an old man," sighed the stockman, "and of little use on earth, and were I but certain that my child would be cared for, feel that I should be content to die."

"Die?" repeated Fred, cheerfully; "your sight is still good, and your hand does not tremble. A bushranger at forty rods is as good as slain when you draw a bead on him, and yet you talk of yielding up your life because we have been caught in a trap by a crafty spy."

"Man's destiny is like--"

"Spare your proverbs," exclaimed Fred, impatiently, "until we are in a place of safety. I feel like making my way out of these woods as fast as possible, and if I have got to cut through a line of robbers I shall leave my mark before completing the job."

"Then let us lose no time," Smith said, speaking after a profound silence. "I can hear the devils calling to each other as they make their way through the forest, and if we wait for their arrival we shall be hemmed in on every point."

Even while Smith was speaking, we could hear the calls of Steel Spring, repeated in rapid succession, as though urging his comrades to renewed exertion. I raised the heavy bag of gold to my shoulder, and away we went, tramping through the bushes, stumbling over decayed trees, and b.u.mping heavily against growing ones. Every few minutes we halted and listened attentively; yet strange to say, not a sound was to be heard except quick breathing and beating of hearts. The stillness seemed worse than the noise, for during the latter we were enabled to define the position of our opponents, and knew that they were at arm's length; but now, when every thing was quiet around us, we knew not but our next step might bring us under their fire, and then farewell to life and fortune.

"Forward," whispered Fred; and on we struggled, the forest apparently growing more dense at every step, and at length we seemed so surrounded with impenetrable thickets that we were obliged to halt and consult as to the best route to the team, which we were anxious to reach.

Suddenly the cracking of a twig beneath the foot of a man who appeared to be making his way in the direction from which we came, started us.

Rover uttered a short growl, and would have sprung upon him, but Fred held the brute with hands of iron and whispered a word of caution, and then the dog became mute as stone.

The invisible robber continued on his way towards the clearing, pa.s.sing so near us that it seemed as though we might have touched him, had we been so disposed. He evidently was on the lookout for our party, for he would stop and listen attentively, and then proceed with careful and certain steps.

We waited until he was beyond hearing, and then extricated ourselves from the thicket and continued our course. For more than two hours we toiled and worked, until at length we saw an opening through the trees.

With eager but careful steps we moved towards it, thinking that the worst part of our expedition was over, and I was just about to throw the gold to the earth and thank G.o.d for our escape, when I looked up and saw that we were at the very point from whence we started--that we were standing on the edge of the clearing, and that directly in front of us were twenty or thirty bushrangers, with levelled muskets, evidently taking our bearing with great familiarity.

CHAPTER XXVII.

CAPTURE OF ALL HANDS, BY THE BUSHRANGERS.

There was no time to retreat, had we been so disposed; and though Fred's rifle flew to his shoulder with the quickness of thought, he apparently considered it better policy not to commence hostilities until the bushrangers showed their disposition.